The Ministry of Health would not ruled out that Zika cases could reach 500 by next Wednesday.
Rodrigo Marín, head of the Vector Control Program of the Ministry, worries that new cantons are affected by the virus, especially with the approach of the rainy season, when more mosquito-transmitted diseases increase in the country.
We have Garabito under control, but we have many new cantons like Esparza and Orotina reporting many cases, and we must remember that we are not only dealing with zika, but also dengue and chikungunya at the same time. We keep finding mosquito breeding sites and, honestly, if the population does not help, we won’t be able to do anything, not even with all our staff working on this,”
said the expert.
Marín asked for more input from the communities in combating diseases, particularly for the consequences, such as the development of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
People have to do their part, we have visited and fumigated more than 500,000 homes and we still have problems. We continue to find breeding sites in homes, people are not getting the danger that lies in canoes, buckets and more. They lack risk perception, they think ‘it won’t happen to me’… Dengue kills and zika -with all those complications- terrifies me,”
said the doctor.
On the other hand, Marín reported that the 17 pregnant women affected by the virus are out of danger, same as a 14-year-old girl, who developed of Guillain Barré Syndrome following the virus.
Although in the Central Valley an increase in rainfall is not perceived, Marín said that reports are consistent in communities such as Quepos, Parrita, Guanacaste, which increases the risk.